This invention relates to running tools for installing casing hangers and annulus packoffs in a subsea wellhead housing, and more particularly to such tools that facilitate running a hanger and a packoff together in a single trip into the well.
In subsea or other underwater well drilling procedures an established practice is to run, land and set casing hangers and annulus packoffs in the submerged wellhead housing by means of a running tool connected to a drill string or other pipe string. The hanger and packoff are releasably connected to the running tool to facilitate retrieval of the tool after the hanger and packoff have been set in the wellhead housing, and advances in this technology have produced running tools that enable the operator to accomplish those tasks during a single trip into the well. As the search for offshore oil deposits progresses into deeper water areas the costs thereof escalate dramatically, thereby continuing the need for tools that function more efficiently and procedures that are less time-consuming.